All Animals Can Talk

At an annual meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Science held in at Boston, it was shown that, after all, there are no dumb beasts! Dr. Gibson read a very interesting paper on the language of animals. He said that every variety of animated being possesses some means of intelligible communication. Each creature by sounds or signs of correspondence has a language understood by its own kind, and sometimes learned by others. Emotions of caution, affection or fear —of joy, gratitude and grief—are disclosed by simple tones of voice, or by impressive gestures to signalize feelings strictly comprehended and often answered. Insects and birds, fish and beasts thus express themselves in distinct languages, signed, spoken and sung, seen, heard and felt. He illustrated his theory by stating familiar facts relative to domestic animals,

This article was originally published with the title "All Animals Can Talk"

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